Hearing is believing?........power cables.......

well put

buy better speakers, room tmts, add on a new room... better source material, better DAC, isolate your turntable, etc. etc.

all are proven with listening tests ( the real kind, not not some guy eyeballing a phat cable while listening) AND are supported by known mechanisms affecting SQ

contrawise, there is no known mechanism by which an aftermarket power cable will affect SQ,, high-end manfs. eschew them and there are zero blinded listening tests showing a difference

not having an expectation does not create a valid listening test

Enjoying my system creates a valid listening test for me... If PCs don't make a difference, then there's a lot of mass hysteria going on. as has been said a million times, just because you can't measure it doesn't mean there's not a difference. Also, just because there are stupidly priced PCs doesn't mean all are a scam or are a crazy outlay of cash.

"Mass hysteria" is a stretch, Todd.  I'd opine that it is, instead, collective confirmation of imaginary phenomenons.

It appears that some think(or hope) the more they type, the more deaf we, or the more correct they, will become. There are phenomena(correct plural) that occur every second, all over this universe, that no one can yet explain. We can hear, "differences" and they want explanations, based on today’s Electrical THEORY. And yet, no one’s Science can(TODAY) even categorically define electrons, or why they behave the way they do.   "Science" itself is in a constant state of flux.   (https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/electrons-vanishing-act.515106/)

Dynaquest4 - WRT 

 audio component manufacturers would surely provide better cables with their equipment

and the same goes for outlets, connectors etc...

However - pretty much all audio components re designed to a "Price Point" and are generally aimed at bettering other components in the same snack bracket.

To include a good Power cable would drive up the cost and ultimately take them out of that snack bracket and lower their competitiveness.

They also realize that people buying their products may also replace that power cable - so why include a good power cable when it will ultimately be discarded. Makes no sense in their eyes.

I actually heard this from one manufacturer - who believe a good power cable was essential to get the best out of their gear

I have conducted many cable upgrades to components priced between $300 and $10.000 and in each case I heard discernible differences.

That does not necessarily mean you would hear those same difference - it meas we all hear things differently - neither one is better - just different. 

e.g. - put me in a room of people and I loose track of the conversation with the person in front of me because of the ambient noise. Whereas my wife can track a single conversation across a full restaurant several tables away - comes in handy at times :-)

We could debate this at length or simply accept, as I do, that there are people that choose to believe cables makes little to no difference and those that do.

I do agree that there is little difference between  many of the cables out there - but some do excel.

Regards - Steve